Saturday, June 16, 2018

Today in History for June 16, 2018

June 16, 1692 – In connection with the Salem witchcraft
trials, Roger Toothaker died in prison.

June 16, 1738 - Mary Katharine Goddard was born in New
London, Conn. She would publish the first version of the Declaration of
Independence that included all of the Congressional signatures.

June 16, 1775 - George Washington accepted the post of
commander in chief of the Continental Army.

June 16, 1816 – Lord Byron read “Fantasmagoriana” to his
four house guests at the Villa Diodati, Percy Shelley, Mary Shelley, Claire
Clairmont and John Polidori, and inspired his challenge that each guest write a
ghost story, which culminated in Mary Shelley writing the novel “Frankenstein,”
John Polidori writing the short story “TheVampyre,” and Byron writing
the poem “Darkness.”

June 16, 1829 – Apache leader Geronimo was born in Sonora,
Mexico.

June 16, 1848 – Former Alabama governor Arthur Pendleton
Bagby of Claiborne, Ala. resigned from the U.S. Senate after nearly seven years
as a senator to become the Minister to Russia. President James K. Polk
appointed Bagby as Minister to Russia, a position he resigned from after Whig
candidate Zachary Taylor was elected president later that year.

June 16, 1850 – English-Australian explorer William Lawson
passed away at the age of 76 at Prospect, New South Wales, Australia.

June 16, 1858 – Senate candidate Abraham Lincoln delivered
his “HouseDivided” speech in Springfield, Illinois. Lincoln said that
the slavery issue had to be resolved and declared that, "A house divided
against itself cannot stand."

June 16, 1862 – At the Battle of Secessionville, a Union
attempt to capture Charleston, South Carolina was thwarted when the
Confederates turned back an attack at Secessionville, just south of the city on
James Island. All three attacks against the fort failed. Union General Henry W.
Benham was arrested three days later for an assault without permission.

June 16, 1862 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Mount Jackson, Virginia and at Winchester,
Tennessee.

June 16, 1863 – During the Civil
War, skirmishes were fought at Maysville, Mount Carmel, Fox Springs and
Triplett’s Bridge in Kentucky; at Waterloo and near Port Hudson in Louisiana;
in the Jornada del Muerto desert in the New Mexico Territory; and at Quinn’s
Mill on the Coldwater River, on the Hatchie River and at Holly Springs in Mississippi.

June 16, 1863 – During the Civil
War, a Federal operation began against Sioux Indians in the Dakota Territory,
and a Federal operation between La Grange, Tenn. and Panola, Miss. began.

June 16, 1863 – During the Civil
War, the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi entered Day 29.

June 16, 1864 – During the Civil
War, the siege of Petersburg and Richmond began after a moonlight skirmish.

June 16, 1864 – 59TH ALABAMA: The 59th
Alabama served during siege operations against Petersburg and Richmond, Va.

June 16, 1904 – Irish author James Joyce began a
relationship with Nora Barnacle, his future wife, and subsequently used the
date to set the actions for his novel “Ulysses.” This date is now traditionally
called "Bloomsday".

June 16, 1906 – The Andalusia Star newspaper, which was
established in 1896, absorbed The Andalusia Times.

June 16, 1909 - Author Archie Carr was born in Mobile, Ala.

June 16, 1915 – T.A. Gantt, the manager of the Arcade
Theatre in Evergreen, Ala., announced that the film, “The Trey o’ Hearts,” was
being discontinued due to low attendance. An action film serial, this 1914
movie is currently considered to be lost.

June 16, 1918 - The Battle of the
Piave River raged on the Italian front, marking the last major attack by the
Austro-Hungarian army in Italy of World War I.

June 16, 1921 – Evergreen’s baseball team was scheduled to
play Monroeville on this Thursday at 4 p.m. Admission was 25 cents and 35
cents.

June 16, 1938 - Jimmy Foxx of the Boston Red Sox set a Major
League record when he was walked six times in one game.

June 16, 1938 – Author Joyce Carol Oates was born in
Lockport, N.Y.

June 16, 1945 – During World War II, U.S. Army Pfc. Fred
Lumen Stuckey Jr., the 29-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred L. Stuckey, who
lived near Skinnerton, was killed in action on Mindanao in the Philippine
Islands. He was a member of the 167th Infantry. Born on Sept. 11,
1915, he was buried in the Lone Star Cemetery at Pine Orchard.

June 16, 1946 – The Evergreen Greenies beat Uriah, 8-1, as
rain halted the game at the end of the eighth inning. In his Greenie pitching
debut, Jim Windham gave up just one hit and no runs while Page led the Greenies
at the plate with a home run.

June 16, 1952 - "Anne Frank: Diary of a Young
Girl" was published in the United States.

June 16, 1955 - The Monroeville Town Baseball Team moved
into third place in the Dixie Amateur League on this Thursday night, defeating
State Farm, 8-7, in 12 innings, but stayed in that position only a couple of
days as a double loss to Jay on Sun., June 18, 7-1 and 8-1, sent them back to
undisputed possession of the cellar. Players on Monroeville’s team included
Carlos Booker, Pat Cobb, Johnny Fowler, Frank Hadley, Edsel Johnson, Les
Prouty, Joe Stevens and John Weatherford.

June 16, 1959 - TV's Superman, 45-year-old George Reeves,
was found dead in an apparent suicide at Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, Calif.
It was to be the start of the urban legend known as the Superman Curse.

June 16, 1961 - Following a meeting
between President John F. Kennedy and South Vietnam envoy Nguyen Dinh Thuan, an
agreement was reached for direct training and combat supervision of Vietnamese
troops by U.S. instructors.

June 16, 1963 - Cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the
first woman in space.

June 16, 1963 - The Repton Baptist Church was the scene of
the wedding of Miss Betty Jean Dees and Willard Conrad Booker Jr. The ceremony
was performed by the Rev. Ralph Lee.

June 16, 1965 - Secretary of
Defense Robert McNamara announced that 21,000 more U.S. troops were to be sent
to Vietnam and were to join the U.S. Marines and paratroopers from the 173rd
Airborne Brigade that had arrived earlier to secure U.S. airbases and
facilities.

June 16, 1966 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the
Lyeffion Quarterback Club was sponsoring Little League Baseball as a summer
recreation program for boys in the elementary school at Lyeffion. There were
four teams with approximately 50 boys participating. Officers of the Lyeffion
Little League were President, Bernard Powell; Vice President, Harold Ryals;
Secretary, Jane Brooks; Chief Umpire, R.J. Davis. The teams with managers and
assistant managers were: Braves, Harold Ryals and Woodrow Pate; Giants, Herbert
Oakley and James Cowart; Dodgers, Joe Varner and Alvin Quinley; Cardinals, Jack
Daniels and Eugene Davis. Each team was to play twice a week on Tuesday and
Thursday nights.

June 16, 1966 – The Evergreen Courant reported that the
first cotton bloom of the 1966 crop was brought to The Courant that week by
Leslie Crosby, who had had this honor and also that of the first bale to the
gin on a number of occasions in the past. Crosby was a well-known farmer of Rt.
E, Evergreen, and had enjoyed good success over the years with cotton and other
crops as well as livestock.

June 16, 1966 – This day’s edition of The Evergreen
Courant carried the following advertisement: “We Buy Old Coins of All Kinds –
Western Auto Store – Pete Wolff.”

June 16, 1967 – Army Spc. Joseph Earl Hammac, 23, of
Brewton, Ala. was killed in action in Vietnam. Born on Sept. 28, 1943, he was
buried in the Hanberry Cemetery in the Wallace community of Escambia County,
Ala. He was a member of Co. A, 47th Infantry, 9th
Infantry Division.

June 16, 1967 - One of the first big rock
festivals, the Monterey International Pop Music Festival, was held at the
Monterey County Fairgrounds in California, and about 90,000
people paid between $3 and $6.50 to see The Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Who,
The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, and Otis Redding.

June 16, 1968 - Tom Somerville, guard on the University of
Alabama Crimson Tide, was scheduled to speak twice in Evergreen on this Sunday.
Sunday afternoon he was to meet with the Fellowship of Christian Athletes being
organized by Evergreen High School athletes at the school. On that Sunday night
at 7:30 he was to speak from the pulpit of the Evergreen Baptist Church. A
cordial invitation was extended to all to attend the service with a special
invitation to young people, according to Dr. Sam Granade, pastor.

June 16, 1969 - U.S. President Nixon sent a telegram to
Reggie Jackson thanking him for hitting two home runs while he was in the park
on June 11.

June 16, 1969 – In Monroeville Little League action, the
Tigers defeated the Pirates, 6-5. K.J. Lazenby was the winning pitcher. He gave
up only five hits. Jerry Wiggins led the hitting for the winners as he
collected three hits and drove in three runs. Danny Hutcherson, Robert Dunn and
Danny Wilson each had two hits. Steve Coleman had three hits for the losers.

June 16, 1970 – Chicago Bears running back Brian Piccolo
died of cancer at the age of 26 in New York City.

June 16, 1970 - North Vietnamese
and Viet Cong attacks almost completely isolated Phnom Penh, with the principal
fighting raging in and around Kompong Thom, about 90 miles north of the
capital.

June 16, 1972 - Four men that worked for the Committee to
Re-Elect the President were caught breaking into the Watergate office of the
Democratic National Committee. They were arrested while planting listening
devices in the office.

June 16, 1977 - Rocket scientist and one-time Alabama
resident Wernher Von Braun died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 65 in
Alexandria, Va.

June 16, 1981 - The "Chicago Tribune" purchased
the Chicago Cubs baseball team from the P.K. Wrigley Chewing Gum Company for
$20.5 million.

June 16, 1981 - The Evergreen City Council met on this
Tuesday night at City Hall with Mayor Pro-tem Aubrey D. Padgett presiding in
the absence of Mayor Lee F. Smith. The council voted to discontinue the demand
charge on the auditorium portion of the L&N Depot, which was owned by the
Murder Creek Historical Society, according to City Clerk Miller Sellers. The
Council also adopted a resolution to establish a personnel system for the City
of Evergreen.

June 16, 1983 – Evergreen, Ala. received 1.33 inches of
rain.

June 16, 1991 - Otis Nixon of the Montreal Expos broke a
major league record with six stolen bases in one game.

June 16, 2005 – The Coleman Cemetery in Butler County, Ala.
was added to the Alabama Historic Cemetery Register.

June 16, 2014 – National Baseball Hall of Fame right fielder
Tony Gwynn passed away at the age of 54 from salivary gland cancer in Poway,
Calif. He played his entire career, 1982-2001, for the San Diego Padres. He was
inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2007.